The Hillside District was known in the late 1800s and early 1900s for its pedestrian traffic, neighborhood gatherings on the porches of the homes and summer residents who came to Saratoga Springs for the healing properties of the mineral water. Many of these summer residents were Hasidic Jews who escaped polluted cities to enjoy the fresh air of upstate New York, Marjorie King-Martin, acting executive director of the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation, said.

“This was a heavily pedestrian neighborhood due to its proximity to Broadway. It was a very social neighborhood,” she added.

The property at 65 and 69 Phila St. was purchased in 1849 by the Patterson family and Alexander Patterson, an architect by profession, built the original Italianate style homes. Patterson was born in Belfast, Ireland and moved to Saratoga with his family in 1836.

According to records, the homes underwent extensive renovations in 1869. The earliest maps of Saratoga suggest that the houses have not significantly changed since 1884.

In 1888, Patterson discovered a mineral spring in the backyard of his property and started a spring water company called Patterson Spring Company in 1890.

At one time, 69 Phila St. was the home of Reverend Bostwick Hawley, the founder of the Hawley Home for Children and the Hawley Foundation which still exists today. It is speculated that the home was used as an orphanage for some time.

Today, they houses are falling apart from water damage and decades of neglect, and for sale signs frequently are found on the porches or in the yard.

It has been brought up in the past to tear down the buildings 65 and 69 Phila St. only to find much passionate opposition from neighbors. According to a letter from Philip Reynolds, who sat on the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation Board of Directors from 1998-2001, neighbors living around the area of 65 and 69 Phila St. stood together against the creation of a standard lot which was proposed by the city of Saratoga Springs, citing that taking down these buildings would damage the neighborhood character. These tall houses with wrap-around porches are found all around the neighborhood and help to preserve the history of the Hillside District. Maintenance and preservation of the porches are the most important aspects of keeping the Hillside District in its original form, and landscaping should not hide the raised basements, which are characteristic to the Italianate style houses in the neighborhood, King-Martin said.

“When we act to preserve historic buildings, what we are also trying to preserve are certain noble ideas that we feel they express—ideals inherited from our ancestors that ground us in the spirit of social contract and good citizenship. When actions to preserve these buildings run contrary to these ideals, then the preserved buildings themselves represent nothing more than old boards and bricks,” Reynolds said.